TV hype- Girls and Downton Abbey

TV hype- Girls and Downton Abbey




Well, yes, I succumbed. I now own a TV though no cable. Tv has certainly changed in the years I was away in Europe. WIth no cable there are endless channels devoted to religion, even one that throws in an occasional Spanish lesson. One channel has resuscitated gems like Maude and entire weekends dedicated to Sally Field’s series like the “Flying Nun”. PBS has been taken over for the geriatric set(lots of British series with older characters and concerts from 50’s and 60’s folk stars) so that doesn’t leave a whole lot out there.

That leads me to pay TV. I recently got season 1 of “Girls” on Netflix and was very disappointed. I missed the sense of fun; here there’s a desperation to it. I remember going through the end of my relationship and discovering “Sex and the City.” I spent hours in a comforting escape. Not much fun on Girls.

One positive thing is that the main character, Hannah, is not a victim despite the difficult scenarios she creates or falls into. I liked her in the way I liked Lisbeth Salander in “The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.” Hannah is, however, narcissistic. That’s part of the humor; she keeps right on going no matter what. There’s the damaged about her; you can’t imagine why she’d actually continue with the creepy boyfriend or even think of having sex with the sleezy boss. The line that summed it up best for me was the doctor who sees her for HPV and says she would not want to be 24 again. Nor would I! Though through the pink haze of memory, the time I spent in New York in my 20’s was fun.

Downton Abbey- I first watched the seasons online last winter when I had a flu. Entertaining enough but a blatant copy of “Upstairs, Downstairs”. Nothing new here. I am watching the new season because I like to immerse myself in that world on a Sunday night in preparation for the workweek. The series is pretty and just ok. It makes me wonder if imagination is lacking everywhere.

And back to Europe- more than 30 free digital stations in Barcelona. National channels have no commercials. There are excellent movies and good documentaries on. I think not even on pay TV in America.